On Loving God
The beloved Cistercian mystic traces the four degrees by which the soul ascends from self-love to the pure love of God: loving self for self's sake, loving God for self's sake, loving God for God's sake, and at last loving even self only for God's sake. Bernard admits this final degree may barely be attainable in this life — it belongs to eternity. But the journey toward it is the whole of the Christian life. "The reason for loving God is God Himself; and the measure of love due to Him is immeasurable love."
Source: ccel.org · Modernized for readability
✦ Table of Contents · 16 Chapters
1
Dedication
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2
Why We Should Love God and the Measure of That Love
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3
How Much God Deserves Love from Man
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4
What Greater Incentives Christians Have to Love God
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5
Of Those Who Find Comfort in the Recollection of God
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6
Of the Christian's Debt of Love
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7
A Brief Summary
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8
Of Love Toward God Not Without Reward
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9
Of the First Degree of Love
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10
Of the Second and Third Degrees of Love
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11
Of the Fourth Degree of Love
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12
Of the Attainment of This Perfection of Love Only at the Resurrection
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13
Of Love: Out of a Letter to the Carthusians
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14
Of the Law of Self-Will and Desire
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15
Of the Law of the Love of Sons
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16
Of the Four Degrees of Love and the Blessed State of the Heavenly Fatherland
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